Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: Hank on October 15, 2008, 01:22:21 PM
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I am wondering if anyone has ever used their OWB as a meat smoker. I am thinking about using my OWB at times as a smoker. I would only use Hickory, Cherry, Apple woods. I have a Hardy H-2, my plan would be to only use a small amount of wood get the inside hot and create a lot of smoke, then use a stainless steel grate to lay my meat on so it gets smoke all around the meat. I would make sure there is no other woods/coal to contaminate the flavor or the meat. Does anyone have any suggestions or has anyone tried this.
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A forced draft would probably stir up way to many ashes and leave a nasty coating on the meat. It would probably be one of those experiments to do when you're home alone! I've been thinking of buying a smoker lately, let us know if you give this a shot.
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Hank ,I have thrown potatoes in foil in just left them in the coals for an hour. Come out good. Have a wood cooker, Get a shovel of coals from the wood boiler and load up the wood cooker,you got instant coals. Pretty convenient. No kindling . Then I add wood depending what's going on the cooker. Bet a dutch oven my work well, never tried it. Good luck...Charlie
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With the way I have my H2 set up I can unplug it so the forced air blower does not kick on ( to prevent ashes from being stirred up or blown all over the meat). I think this will work. When I fire it up for the winter I am going to use Hickory and Apple with some venison. I will let everyone know how this works. If any one has any suggestions let me know. Hank
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I've always threatened to throw a shoulder or tenderloin inside mine but have always been afraid of the great temperature variations since these boilers are either in full burn or dampered completely down. I'd be curious to see how it goes.
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Hey guys, good news this worked out well. I waited until the temp outside was about 50 so my house wouldn't need a whole lot of heat. I unplugged the blower so it would not kick on (to blow ashes all over the meat). I used hickory, cherry and apple woods in my Hardy for a couple of days to get all the other nice flavors of wood such as locust, elm, oak etc.. out. I opened the draft door to allow the OWB to get hot and create a lot of smoke. I placed a BBQ grill grate on top of the wood to allow the smoke to get all over the meat, I then placed the slabs venison on the grate. I rubbed it down liquid hickory smoke then added my spices, I used an injector to inject it. (my injection was liquid hickory smoke and my spices combined) I would go out every couple of hours to open the draft door to create more heat and smoke.It smoked for about 8 hours. I tried to keep the inside of the OWB at 160 to 180 degrees. EXCELLENT taste, tender meat... I want to try deer jerky next instead of using a dehydrator. :post:
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That's a really cool idea. I'm happy to hear it worked out well. Did you get any odd flavors from the other kinds of wood even though you didn't burn them for a couple days? I burn so much pine in mine I'd be afraid the meat would come out tasting like gin unless I scrubbed the whole firebox down first.
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Nice job! Way to figure out another use for an OWB! :thumbup:
I'll take mine with some Famous Daves purple sauce please!
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I continue to use my Hardy H2 OWB as the occasional meat smoker... It actually works well. I have smoked deer, beef and ham in it. Deer being the best.
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I am glad to hear this worked out.I have been wanting to try smoking some meat myself. I have never done it before and figured why not use the boiler.I am going to have to try this sometime soon.
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be carefull what you burn in that "smoker"...i cremated my golden lab in mine 2 years ago and everynow and then i still get a wiff of him...unless that is just my imagination!
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be carefull what you burn in that "smoker"...i cremated my golden lab in mine 2 years ago and everynow and then i still get a wiff of him...unless that is just my imagination!
Not sure I'd throw the family pet or any animal in the furance..I couldnt imagine the stink...No wonder why OWB's are on the hot seat of being regulated or banned in some areas....
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be carefull what you burn in that "smoker"...i cremated my golden lab in mine 2 years ago and everynow and then i still get a wiff of him...unless that is just my imagination!
Not sure I'd throw the family pet or any animal in the furance..I couldnt imagine the stink...No wonder why OWB's are on the hot seat of being regulated or banned in some areas....
Matty, what i did might not sit well with everyone, but it was right for me. I asked my vet what he would do if i left the dog with him and he said they keep them untill they have a big freezer full then they ship them off to the city to creamate them in a big furnace like they use for humans. Well, i thought about that for a minute and decided my outdoor stove could burn just one. instead of lying in limbo in a freezer for a month and then being burnt up with 99 other cats, dogs, hamsters and who knows what, i like to think h e went out with a little dignity. as for my neighbors, on the right he is 1/4 mile away, on the left, he is almost 1 mile and east and west thye are a whole concession away. also i can tell you that people out there that are too lazy to stay a year ahead of thier wood supply and burn green wood make far for smoke and stink than anything i could ever burn in my stove. I can remember (way back when) i was looking at OWB and "most" of the dealers were using the sales ply that i needed thier particular stove because i could burn green wood in it. (we all know that is not the best thing to do now) like i said at the top of this post, it may not be political correct but for me it was the best thing i could do for my old companion
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be carefull what you burn in that "smoker"...i cremated my golden lab in mine 2 years ago and everynow and then i still get a wiff of him...unless that is just my imagination!
Not sure I'd throw the family pet or any animal in the furance..I couldnt imagine the stink...No wonder why OWB's are on the hot seat of being regulated or banned in some areas....
Matty, what i did might not sit well with everyone, but it was right for me. I asked my vet what he would do if i left the dog with him and he said they keep them untill they have a big freezer full then they ship them off to the city to creamate them in a big furnace like they use for humans. Well, i thought about that for a minute and decided my outdoor stove could burn just one. instead of lying in limbo in a freezer for a month and then being burnt up with 99 other cats, dogs, hamsters and who knows what, i like to think h e went out with a little dignity. as for my neighbors, on the right he is 1/4 mile away, on the left, he is almost 1 mile and east and west thye are a whole concession away. also i can tell you that people out there that are too lazy to stay a year ahead of thier wood supply and burn green wood make far for smoke and stink than anything i could ever burn in my stove. I can remember (way back when) i was looking at OWB and "most" of the dealers were using the sales ply that i needed thier particular stove because i could burn green wood in it. (we all know that is not the best thing to do now) like i said at the top of this post, it may not be political correct but for me it was the best thing i could do for my old companion
Willy,
If its right for you thats fine..Its not the first time that ive heard animals or parts of animals being creamated in a OWB..Like you said may not be political correct..I think Id bury the dog..But thats me..The problem is that theres people out there that absolultly abuse them..They burn everything from trash, tires, treated wood, anything that will burn goes in... I agree with the green wood thing..Half potental btu's are going out the stack..I live in a odd law state..Half these furances on this web sight cannt be sold in my state unless they meet EPA phase2.. Ive heard it will be nation wide pretty soon
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i think here in ontario it will be like your state as well..allready here local municipal government has made rules that make sure it is difficult to have one in a built up area. in my township they have now made it (i'm not sure on exact footage) something like you stove must be no closer than 150 feet to your property line and 300 feet from the nearest neighbours dwelling. that pretty much takes care of everywhere but farms or big lots in the countryside.
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Kinda chaps me! When I lived in town my neighbor could burn his fireplace that smoked like a thick fog but I could not have a gasifier that put out a fraction of the smoke. I do like the idea of a smoker though. Anyone ever smoked with ironwood? I don't have any flavor wood in my arsenal.
Sorry about your bud Willie.
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This thread got me to thinking, which is sometimes dangerous, about the horizontal smoke passages in my stove and how hot does it get. I held a probe type thermometer over the chimney pipe while it was fired up and it stayed under 300. On the front of the stove there is a door about 7" high and 20" wide leading in to the smoke chamber. I put a couple of double foil wrapped potatoes in and it took a little over 2 hrs to get them done, I think in colder weather when the stove doesn't idle as much it would have cooked faster. Now I am anxious to try a chunk of meat in there.
Gary
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i know this is an old thread but i smoke a pork butt yesterday in the boiler.
man o man was it good
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Two of my favorite things great food and staying warm .At the shows when ever we could burn our boilers ,we would never hesitate. Well at times I lived in a camper for extended periods. Needed to eat so it wasn't long and I was cooking up almost anything I could wrap up in foil. I would pick up corn roast unhusked in a wrap of foil lots of butter it sure does taste good just picked that morning done just nice. Also have cooked lots of sausages most likely farmers market typically. Ribs, roasts,baked potatoes in the skin or one of my favorite was chopped onions potatoes and lots of butter even more butter once I met Richard. I also know that some very good cornbread has come out of the chip burner. As far as using as a smoker I have only cooked food pretty much protected from smoke. Mostly cooked in the last pass of the 250 gasification or the chip burner it would give quite a nice low temperature oven superior flavor. The heat exchanger on ultimizer will also work with the right placement and fire. I have also taken coals out to cook with, nothing like meat cooked on wood coals. Which brings up another very interesting cooking method .Recently I attended the hearth ,patio and barbecue show in Nashville, l am thinking by the excitement the Big Green egg type of charcoal cooking, many different brands mostly all made with ceramic to hold the heat. Thinking about getting one ,any one own any brand of these kamado charcoal cookers? And how do you like it ?Any way happy cooking and stay warm .
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Those were some Awesome meals weren't they, remember one of the first times we did it at Fryeburg fair with the Canadian sausage and gave away a few samples, Big Wood and I had no problem finding food at Presque Isle fair by trading off some of that cornbread with other vendors, aaaah living in a slide in camper, eating great almost home cooked food, promoting what we all believe in, good times my friend.
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Doesn't it always seem when you are away from home you eat like kings?
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a week ago I did a butt > in it goes > (http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k632/atvalaska/IMG_0217.jpg) out it comes (http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k632/atvalaska/IMG_0221.jpg)
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i got no pics but mine looked like that and man were those good sandwichs :thumbup:
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Doesn't it always seem when you are away from home you eat like kings?
We do when we visit the wife's aunts and uncle in the UK. Steak and Ale pie, Yorkshire puddings, Cornish pasty's, sausage rolls, Sunday roasts and true Indian food that makes the stuff in the states seem rather blah. Had honest to god french croissants while in Normandy, everything I've found since is disappointing at best.
I did do the cooking last night though as the wife had a taste for indian, Gobi Pakora and onion bhaji for appetizer followed by chicken pineapple and coconut curry over basmati rice. I've made samosas in the past and those are a pain in the butt folding all that pastry. I've also made galub jamun in the past but have since forgotten the recipe. Would like to find a recipe for mango pudding one of these days as the wife can't seem to get enough of it.
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Has anyone ever smoked / cooked in the upper / second chamber ? I would think this would be the place to do more of an indirect coal contact cooking ?
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I have many times with the optimizer 250 but I think the Ultimizer might get a bit hot
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Thanks slim. And thanks for your help early last year. I've nothing but enjoyed my first OWB year. It's a showpiece around here I've had many great comments.
Stay warm...
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Anytime my friend!